Let's Share a Bipartisan Peace Pipe, Then Go Out and Win This Damn War!

Let's Share a Bipartisan Peace Pipe, Then Go Out and
Win This Damn War!

The United States military was unprepared to enter an
unconventional war when it began providing military
advisory support to South Vietnam in 1962. In
preparation to counter the insurgency from North
Vietnam, the United States military rapidly began to
revise its tactics and strategies, emphasizing special
forces, psychological
operations, and civil affairs. It soon became apparent
that winning the war required winning the hearts and
minds of the all the people of South Vietnam.
Firepower and maneuver, while important, were not as
prominently influential as in conventional warfare.
Troop levels increased and so did casualties as the
war progressed through
the sixties.

The 1968 TET Offensive was deemed the turning point of
the Vietnam War and not because we lost the battle.
The attackers were repelled and the North Vietnamese
were soundly defeated. But the event was considered an
American defeat, simply because it was not anticipated
and would likely mean that the war could be protracted
beyond the predicted troop withdrawal dates. After
six years, the light at the end of the tunnel was not
getting much brighter and America was growing tired of
this war. Americans were following the lead of
cynicism directed their way during the evening news,
each and every evening.

Even before the TET Offensive, trouble was brewing in
our homeland. A demographic anomaly emerged from among
some of the 76 million baby boomers and a vitriolic
protest of the Vietnam War was initiated by a radical
counterculture of people dubbed.....hippies and flower
children. The protest was perpetuated in part by a
draft that took young men half way around the world to
fight, and perhaps die, in a war that some saw as
unnecessary. This sentiment was largely influenced by
the media which brought the war into the living rooms
of every American home where casualties and negative
aspects of American involvement were constantly
emphasized. And "the most trusted man in America" led
the way on CBS.

While trying to win the hearts and minds of the people
in South Vietnam, America's fighting men were rapidly
losing the hearts and minds of Americans back home. A
will to win that existed in the mid-sixties was fading
fast.

An insurgent is defined as someone who fights against
the government in his or her own country. It correctly
defines the conduct of the radical activists who began
protesting and rioting in America during the late
sixties and early seventies. Burning draft cards and
the American flag, parading with the North Vietnamese
flag, and
fleeing to Canada to avoid being drafted were
commonplace events.

Upon return from military duty in Vietnam, John Kerry,
himself a war veteran, but still a Reservist, became a
leader of an organization called the Vietnam Veterans
Against the War. He too was an insurgent. He falsely
testified before Congress that American fighting men
in Vietnam routinely committed atrocities and he also
went
to Paris, France, where he attempted to negotiate a
peace treaty with the enemy.

The fighting men, deployed in Vietnam, began to
realize that they were fighting a war on two fronts.
Ultimately, the war was lost. Not because of a failing
military campaign, but because of a failing will to
win by Americans. The media and the radical
counterculture had successfully undermined our
military mission, and the politicians eventually opted
to cut and run. It was a defeat that was chronicled
around the world, a defeat that would have a profound
negative impact on America for a long, long time.

The boomers have grown up now, cut their hair, trimmed
their beards, and chucked their war-surplus fatigues,
but their liberal leftist thinking has not changed and
their vitriolic behavior still persists. Many now
occupy positions of power in both the government and
the media and they remain active insurgents just as
they were
over three decades ago.

We are once again involved in an unconventional war
and again we hear and see the anti-war activists
emerge primarily from the Democratic party base along
with its obvious ally, the liberal mainstream media.
This does not mean that the right-wing conservatives,
are pro-war. Nobody wants war, but sometimes war is
necessary and certainly our war against terrorism is
justified.

We already have a precedence as to what negative and
positive effects radical activism has on our own
fighting forces and our enemies respectively. Today,
the weak-willed and appeasers, combined with some
partisan politicians and the elite national media are
again collectively decaying Americans' confidence in
our ability to win, just as they did in Vietnam.

Our enemies do not respect our culture nor our liberty
that we so cherish. They respect our power and
nothing else. But they know that our power can be
diminished better by our own bickering and
partisanship than by their suicide bombers. They know
that the best chance that they have in our defeat is
our own self-defeat.

That's why polarization is so counter-productive in
our war against terrorism. It is the only way we can
lose. Divided we cannot and ultimately will not win.
United we cannot lose and will ultimately win. Our
current administration and our military possess the
resolve and the will to win. And win we will if all
people of the United States will become united in a
bipartisan resolve to win. Hopefully, after the
election, our commander-in-chief
will be able to fulfill the promise he made during his
first inaugural address.....to bring the parties
together and unite our people. President Bush has
been relentlessly pummeled by Bush-Haters throughout
his term. Not once has he retaliated or renounced his
attackers. To me, he sounds like a man who says what
he means and does what he says. Let's smoke the
pipe.....then, let's smoke the terrorists.
By Lt.Col.Bob Lanzotti
rlanzotti@mindspring.com


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Listen to J.R. on Talk Show America, a political conservative talk show that webcasts Mon-Fri 4-6 PM EST live on the IBC Radio Network www.ibcrn.com or 24/7 @ www.talkshowamerica.com (Recorded)